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By The Satirist
Two American backpackers were arrested yesterday in Lahore on suspicion of being Indian spies. Neither the police nor the intelligence agencies have yet to confirm or deny the reports.
According to a source who does not wish to be named, alarm bells were raised when one of the two men in question was heard to say “Holy cow that’s cheap” whilst dining out at a Chappal Kebab restaurant.
“It was an incomprehensible error of judgment” he said, “how can you go to a kebab eatery and start extolling the sanctity of bovines. We knew from that moment that these boys were spies.”
In other telling evidence both suspects were captured wearing crocodile skin shoes and in possession of wallets made from elephant hide. None of their belongings were leather products. “They … Read entire article »

Anti-Semitism (hatred for Jewish people) is not a new or unique phenomenon for us Pakistanis. We love to hate the Jews and to blame all our ills on the ugly, hideous, nefarious designs of the Zionist Jews. After all, Jews control the world and it is only because of them that we Muslims are so far behind the rest of the world. It’s all a big conspiracy.
Journalist and Political advocate Tarek Fatah described and analyzed … Read entire article »

By Saad Hafiz:
One is probably familiar with a inspirational slogan of The American Revolution: ‘No taxation without representation’, originating in the 1750s and 1760s, which meant that the British imposition of taxes on its American colonies was unacceptable without the expressed will of the people.
In Pakistan an arguably perverse view of this American proclamation has been historically in the vogue; ‘No taxation with representation’ which means that rich Pakistanis including a significant percentage of national and provincial legislators, among others, do not pay taxes, forcing the government to rely primarily on foreign assistance to prop up finances.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that Pakistan must tax its elite if it wants to continue receiving financial assistance: “This is one of my pet peeves; Countries that will not tax … Read entire article »

By Chintan Girish Modi:
I read this morning’s news with great delight. Soon as I signed into my Twitter account, two fabulous news items grabbed my attention. ‘Cabinet nod to easier visas for Pakistanis in some categories,’ (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/visa-and-immigration/cabinet-nod-to-easier-visas-for-pakistanis-in-some-categories/articleshow/12884360.cms) said The Economic Times. ‘A year on, India-Pakistan trade relations leapfrog,’ (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/one-year-on-india-pakistan-trade-relations-leapfrog/472745/) announced The Business Standard. Wow! It was amazing to learn that friends from Pakistan will now find it easier to get multi-city, multiple-entry visas to India. Of course, it wasn’t an overnight development. There has been a build-up to this in the last few months. We have reached this place thanks to the efforts of numerous individuals and civil society groups (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTIvMDQvMjIjQXIwMTAwMQ%3D%3D) who have held on steadfastly their deep faith in the power of peace and their hope for friendship between India … Read entire article »

by Habib Siddiqui
“It is difficult to untangle this historical mess without scrutinizing the accusations against Aurangzeb rationally. Fortunately, in recent years quite a few Hindu historians have come out in the open disputing those allegations.”
In a polarized world that we live in (which is, sadly, getting ever more polarized now by every minute and hour), we have often assumed that what is good for “our” people had to be bad for the “other” people. A glaring example is the personality of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who ruled India for 50 years. Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 C.E., probably no one generates as much controversy as Aurangzeb. He has been hailed as anyone from a “Saintly or Pauper Emperor” to one who … Read entire article »

Anti-Semitism (hatred for Jewish people) is not a new or unique phenomenon for us Pakistanis. We love to hate the Jews and to blame all our ills on the ugly, hideous, nefarious designs of the Zionist Jews. After all, Jews control the world and it is only because of them that we Muslims are so far behind the rest of the world. It’s all a big conspiracy.
Journalist and Political advocate Tarek Fatah described and analyzed … Read entire article »

Raza Habib Raja
There is something about India as an idea which transcends the modern day political configurations. It is the idea of India as a huge mass of land which stretches from Baluchistan to present day Bangladesh. This idea of India is independent of any political configuration. In fact during the past thousands of years, this mass of land has very seldom been a unified political entity. And yet there is something which loosely unites the inhabitants despite their substantial religious and at times even ethno linguistic differences (after all let us not forget that more than 200 languages are spoken in India). There is something, perhaps difficult to articulate, which enables this huge stretch of land to be called India irrespective of various political shapes it has assumed over … Read entire article »

I was forwarded this letter from Shiva Ji to Aurangzeb excerpted from chhatrapati Shivaji by Setu Madhavrao Pagadi . I am not certain of the historical veracity per se but this letter makes very interesting reading and should serve as a timeless reminder to our rulers as well. – YLH
“To the Emperor Alamgir.
This firm well-wisher Shivaji, deeply grateful for divine favour and your kindness as clear as daylight, begs to inform your Majesty as follows:
“I returned … Read entire article »

Anti-Semitism (hatred for Jewish people) is not a new or unique phenomenon for us Pakistanis. We love to hate the Jews and to blame all our ills on the ugly, hideous, nefarious designs of the Zionist Jews. After all, Jews control the world and it is only because of them that we Muslims are so far behind the rest of the world. It’s all a big conspiracy.
Journalist and Political advocate Tarek Fatah described and analyzed … Read entire article »

by Abdul Majeed
An article recently published in a notorious blog went on to criticize The Friday Times, Raza Rumi, Saleem Javed, Khaled Ahmad and Ali Chishti,because they dared to use the word “sectarian killings” instead of “Shia genocide” which is the term favored by the author of that post. The article also posited that there is a systemic genocide committed against Shias and that the #DeepState is somehow promoting it. The author did not specify exactly what benefit the #DeepState gets if they are actually complicit, when all it does is to actually compromise and damage its own writ and control. The article wanted us to believe that “Sectarian Violence/Genocide” is being “mis-represented” as a Proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The article mentioned the plight of the Hazara … Read entire article »

By D. Asghar
In the next 24 hours or so, the apex court will render a decision, which is again being watched and monitored very closely. The haters and the anti government crowd, is desperately waiting for the Court to send the PM packing.
Thank God for people like Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who tend to make sense, based on logic and sound arguments. Listening to him on a Talk Show, one was left with the understanding and the veracity of the whole matter. The legal question in front of the apex court is, whether the PM has committed a contempt of court by not writing to the Swiss Authorities to re open a case against the sitting President?
Mr. Ahsan gave reasonable arguments and felt confident that Supreme Court will find … Read entire article »

By Obaid Ullah Khan:
Ours is a diseased society and anyone with sanity would hardly differ with it. Many a times a single disease causes multiple symptoms in a body. A deep study of our diseased society may reveal that there is a virus of Hate in our society causing many deteriorating symptoms. Our society as a whole is suffering from the effects of Hate, whether be it individually, socially, politically and most important of all religiously. Anyone can understand that hate is the opposite feeling of Love which is a positive emotion in the human and essential in nurturing positive and constructive tendencies in human character, in contrast to that we are the followers of hate, causing a downfall in our individual and national character as a whole. The outcomes of … Read entire article »

By Josh Shahryar:
As an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, the first time I heard about Siachen I thought, “Black China? What’s that?” Since in Farsi, Sia is black and Cheen is China. To my young mind, it was just another Urdu word that I needed to learn and then get excited over. I read the one rupee Tarzan and Omroo Ayyar story books and the first time I learned what chalaang meant, I literally jumped! Back to … Read entire article »

Nowadays Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf (PTI) is being criticized for including few controversial faces whose past is not clean as they are part of former governments. Like many others, I had same reservation against these inclusions, especially SMQ, Mian Azhar, Khuwaja Asif, Azam Sawati and etc. however, after going through Imran Khans’s life History, his game plan, and strategy I have extracted the probable reason and logic behind these old faces, and i feel that … Read entire article »